The story of what’s happening in the region’s young micro-spirits industry parallels the journey of an oak barrel at Thompsonville’s Iron Fish Distillery. First that barrel was filled with gallons of maple syrup from Griner Family Sugar Bush in Copemish and aged, so that bourbon whiskey could be switched in and infused with maple flavor.

The empty barrel was then sent to the Filling Station in Traverse City, where it was filled with imperial stout for a bourbon-barrel beer release. Then the barrel came back to Iron Fish, to be filled with whiskey for yet another flavor trade, this time for an imperial-stout aged whiskey.

As Patrick Sullivan writes in this week's Northern Express - sister publication of The Ticker - there’s a scramble on among local distillers who are looking for the best and most creative ways to use local ingredients and produce signature spirits for northern Michigan.

Richard Anderson, who started Iron Fish with his wife, Sarah, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law, says the foursome launched their distillery with the goal of using as many local ingredients as possible. “We’re a farm distillery, and the way that the farm distilleries used to operate, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, you’d propagate your own yeast,” Anderson says.

When Nicholas Lefebre and his wife, Geri, moved to Elk Rapids after college to start Ethanology Distillery, they resolved to start without selling any alcohol produced by anyone else. Using all local ingredients has proved difficult, but they found a source of red winter wheat, from East Jordan’s Valley View Farm, to make vodka and gin. Ethanology can’t offer whiskey yet, because aging takes time, but they’ve made a concoction they call Mel Vocatus, a spirit distilled from honey sourced from Cherry Ke farm in Kewadin. The spirit is 80 proof and tastes like a Japanese single malt whisky, Lefebre says.

“We can craft a world class-product right here in northern Michigan, sourced from local farmers,” he says.

Kent Rabish of Grand Traverse Distillery prides himself on running a distillery that’s truly producing spirits from scratch. That means he uses local grains and then mills, mashes, and ferments the raw material before distillation even begins. Rabish worked with state officials several years ago on the standards required to put a “Pure Michigan” logo on a bottle of Michigan-made liquor. Using local ingredients and starting from scratch is important, Rabish says, because it produces a unique and honest product.

Read more about distillers' quest to showcase the best local ingredients in their spirits in this week's Northern Express story "Hooch Terroir." The Northern Express is available to read online, or pick up a copy at one of nearly 700 other spots in 14 counties across northern Michigan.